Phooey

Mr white van man this morning on the A38 dual carriageway. Speed limit 40 mph and he is sat in the right hand lane dong 30 mph totally ignoring all the beeps and flashing of lights. I got fed up (wife needs to be at work) so I pulled out and passed him on the left. He is sat one eye on the road and the other eye in his favourite novel. He was actually reading a book. Pr*ck!!

lol ... ooooh! Next week counter-steering

The best I can describe it is when the gears on a pushbike 'slipped' across the cogs when the lever was in between gears. You can hear and feel them not quite engage and then clicks into gear. Thanks Chris. Will look at that vid later.

Had a little rideout yesterday, 70/80 miles, and twice during the ride I experienced a strange thing with the gears. I lifted my toe slightly to take up the slack on the gear lever, as I always do, and on two occasions before I even touched the clutch lever, the gears rolled through a gear or two as if the cogs were slipping. I have just fitted a new clutch cable which is adjusted correctly, the chain and sprocket has been checked and is also fine. My mechanic mate doesn't have the time to take a look at it at the moment so I thought that I would ask you guys what you thought. Is there a problem with the gearbox/clutch? Is this normal and I am just too inexperienced to realise it? Answers on a postcard please!

Took her for a ride up to Hereford today. Opened the throttle and had a couple of 9k moments ... Loved it. Was a bit 'arse tweeky' at first but soon got used to it. First proper ride out and loved it.

From MCN: A surprise, to say the least. The Kawasaki ZZ-R600 looks so docile by today’s standards yet twist the throttle and a ridiculous surge of power carries you up to the 14,000rpm redline in no time. The Kawasaki ZZ-R600 engine is reliable, grunty enough low down and positively mental at anything above about 4000rpm. Bloody hilarious! You've not even touch what's lurking underneath yet mate take your time and ease yourself into it. Number one stay Safe and sod the rest lol ... thanks for this Chris. The friend who came down with me to collect it, and rode it back for me, said I needed to be confident below 7K and I better be f***ing good above 7K. He said he got 146 mph out of her with a bit more to spare. You will understand why he get's a definite NO! when ever he invites me out for a ride. lol I had never seen him ride before and naively believed him when he said he doesn't ride mentally! Hmmm, I must ask him where he got that limp from one day!

John ... I appreciate your words but I must stress that I was not referring to speeding or riding like a prat. What I meant was that one of my friends say that keeping the revs a little higher but dropping a gear if necessary, gives me more control while the other says the opposit.

lol ... better make sure that I am on a straight road then. Motorway trip sounds like a favourite. I must admit, lots of people was talking about ZZR being poky and I was wondering why I wasn't feeling it ... now I know.

Mines almost over by then 9.5 is the top end power on mine with a 10.5k redline gotta love lazy bikes So how do I find my power band? Is it simply opening her up and feeling where the power kicks in? There is a lot of summer to come and I will be out there hopefully developing my own style. I will be pushing her a bit as the dryer, warmer road appear. I have been really tame so far. This weekend promises to be lovely so I will cover a few miles then.

Thanks guys. The general consensus seems to be 'do what feels right for me'. Littlecat: I was looking at doing the bikesafe soon Moo: Your posts always make me smile. Next time I'm out I'll open that ZZR600 throttle and 'let that bitch pull me along' ... lol

No not come off yet, Stu. But I am always looking for tips to improve my riding. Just because I haven't come off yet doesn't necessarily mean I am doing it right ... I could be just lucky. Thanks for your comment though.

Ok guys ... so I am looking for your thoughts. I have been riding my bike for a couple of months (mostly in the wet) and have been taking it nice and steady, not trying to be a hero just smoothly does it. This past few days what with the weather a little nicer I have been opening the throttle a little more and obviously feeling a bit more confident riding a bit faster. Now here is my question. I have two mates who ride and one says while riding around town and semi country roads keep the revs higher and drop a gear if I need to, because that will help me to keep control and ultimately feel more confident. The other contradicts this by saying ride in an appropriate gear so as to keep the revs low but not so low the bike struggles and that will keep control and help build confidence. So which one is right?? At the moment I am keeping revs low, rarely go over 4000 unless on the motorway or dual carriageway. Don't think that I have gone over 6000 yet! I do all the usual, gentle braking, easy throttle, smooth steering, counter steering , when it is wet so I guess I am really asking about when it is dry and we can enjoy the ride for the rides sake.

What's the point in that? You will learn nothing ... only set answers to set questions. Whats' the point in going to school? They may as well send you home the answers to the exams for you to learn. the book I suggested practically does this ... you have to put some effort into learning though!

https://www.gov.uk/practise-your-driving-theory-test Here is a good start

Not necessarily mate. 2013 is just as good. They do update from time to time though personally, and this is just my opinion, I wouldn't want to go more than a year or so back!

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Official-DSA- ... 5661b7da72 This is what I used. The questions aren't out to trick you mate, just to make sure that you are safe. make sure that you understand the contents here and you'll be ok. You can also get yourself a copy of the CD-ROM which will help you with the question in 'mock' tests, including the hazard perception part.

Don't speed up to create a gap mate. Slow down to create more time for you and the ar*ehole to react!

Thanks Maccy. Perhaps I just have to look for a better fitting pair.

Guys I have knuckle plates in my gloves and while the right one is fine, I find that the left one hurts across the knuckes. Is there anything I could do to ease this or is simply getting larger gloves? I have a smallish hand and these are supposed to be medium fit.

Congrats matey. So are you still considering the ZZR?

Now that might be part of the problem I was resting the ball of my right foot on the peg to avoid inadvertent illumination of the break light but my left foot was further forward with the instep sat on the peg. So when I change gear a lot of my foot is under the lever and not just my toes! Will give that a try before moving the lever. Thanks.

Sounds simple enough. Thanks Chris.

Guys, this may seem like a really weird question but here goes. I was out on an errand yesterday evening and now that I am a lot more relaxed on the bike I rode with a bit more conviction and didn't think too much about the process of riding and just rode Now, on a couple of occasions I noticed that my left foot seemed to be getting hooked under the gear lever. Sort of 'stuck' between the footpeg and the gear change lever. Now I don't have big feet by any stretch of any imagination! Size 9 boots! Has anyone else experienced this? Is it just me pushing my foot too far forward? Or is there a way to adjust the pegs? I know the guy I bought the bike from was a tiny little guy about 5' 6" and very tiny feet. Could he have made an adjustment to suit his feet? I can't see anything obvious on the bike but hay, what do I know! I struggled changing the headlight bulb

lol ... he had what he called 'teapot handles' on his jacket for me to hold ... I though I was going to pull them off. The acceleration was amazing and he said he was taking it really steady!

lol ... I had to remove the whole front end fairing but got it sorted. While I had it all stript I decided to change the clutch cable. The original was hard work. 30 mins in town and my left hand was aching like hell Now I have a working headlight and a soft smooth clutch! And, surprised me, I walked into Fowlers and said I don't sduppose you have a clutch cable for an imported ZX600 and he said of course we do ... £17 please. I was sure I would have to order it in. My mate took me to Fowlers on the back of his Aprilia RSV1000 ... OMG, 0 - 60 before I could sh*t myself. I think I definitely prefer it on the front. DreamytimeEscorts: It doesn't have a switch on it ... well apart from the Hi / Lo switch! Thanks everyone for your help.